A Study in Death
by Mint-Chocolate-Leaves
Summary: After dying at the battle of Hogwarts, Fred finds himself in the afterlife. The strange thing however, is that instead of moving on, he finds himself getting dragged into an organisation. An organisation that plan to defy death and cheat the system. An organisation that aren't quite dead. AU.
1. Prologue

Title: A Study in Death

Summary: After dying at the battle of Hogwarts, Fred finds himself in the afterlife. The strange thing however, is that instead of moving on, he finds himself getting dragged into an organisation. An organisation that plan to defy death and cheat the system. An organisation that aren't quite dead. AU.

A/N: I start new things before I've finished old ones. I get that. I am not sorry. I love this idea and I wanted to write it so... There's my solution to this. Tell me what you think and don't hesitate to leave a review!

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_Prologue_

Fred Weasley opened his eyes with what seemed like extreme effort. As soon as he did, a gasp rose in his throat, and his heartbeat pulsed beneath his ears. He looked up at the grey ceiling above him, his thoughts echoing in the vast silence that surrounded him. _Hogwarts castle didn't look so chaotic anymore_, he thought to himself. What had happened to throw a stilt into his thoughts, he couldn't think of anything after he had been joking with his brother, Percy.

It had been something about Percy quitting the ministry.

Fred tried to sit up, but his muscles ached and protested. Taking a moment to steady his breathing - each breath had been quick and shallow - the ginger ran his tongue across the top of his mouth. It had always been something he'd done whenever he was trying to think things over.

The last thing Fred could truly remember was closing his eyes for a millisecond - just blinking away some of the dust that had been gathering in his eyes after a rogue spell had caused an explosion. He'd gotten out safely, hadn't he? He must have done. Or maybe someone else had saved him - he'd have to ask George if he'd heard anything about how he'd survived when he met up with his twin.

Once again Fred tried to sit up. His ignored the ache of his muscles, using his hands to scramble up to his feet when he saw a figure approaching. The figure - a male - had raven coloured hair that was messy. He wore glasses too. Fred's mind told him who it was in an instant.

_"Harry!"_

The raven haired figure raced towards him. Fred noticed that he seemed to look slightly confused - pained almost. The man stopped in front of Fred, breathing heavily as he leaned over. "Sorry mate," the figure spoke, "been fighting our defence for a while. I'd have kept going except, you said Harry didn't you?"

It took Fred only a few seconds to realise that the man he was talking to was not actually Harry, despite their carbon copy like appearance. With a mute nod, Fred waited for the man to continue.

"Harry Potter?" Another nod from Fred caused the man to smile. "Are you one of his friends? Do you know him?"

Fred nodded - Of course he knew Harry, who didn't? The orphaned boy-who-lived had been like a surrogate brother to him for the past seven years. The man smiled again, clicking his tongue as he ran a hand through his hand.

"That's great." The raven haired man gushed, throwing an arm around Fred's arm. "We always love getting new information on him, it's the only good thing about the newbies, you know?"

Fred went to open his mouth to reply before shutting it. He shook his head, too confused for words.

"I'm assuming you're a wizard seeing as you're here and not somewhere else. All of the wizards come here - and seeing as you're here and not somewhere else, you must be a good wizard. By that, I mean a nice one, one of the good guys."

The Harry lookalike gave Fred a thumbs up, retracting the arm that had been around Fred's shoulders.

"Where are we?" Fred asked. He knew he was at Hogwarts, but it was too quiet, was he in an illusion? Was he hallucinating or something?

The man frowned, albeit weakly. Frowning really didn't seem to suit him, and Fred felt his stomach clench nervously. What was going on?

"We," the man said, "are in the afterlife. Most of us choose to move on, but the other one's of us choose to fight."

Fred frowned, "The after life? Moving on? Fighting?"

The man shook his head, "Lils would be so much better at explaining, she's a way better recruiter than I am. How about I take you to her?"

With shaky legs and an unsettling feeling in his stomach which was really only the churning of acid as his body digested food, Fred followed after the man. As they climbed up the staircase to the principals office, Fred found himself staring at the school with a sense of nostalgia. _It's strange, _he thought, _to be in Hogwarts during the... afterlife._

The man paused for a moment and turned around to look at Fred, "So newbie. Who are you? I forgot to ask."

Fred swallowed, his voice crackled as he spoke. "I'm Fred Weasley."

The man winced, "You're one of Molly's aren't you? That's got to be tough on her..."

Fred shrugged, unsure of how he should respond. As soon as the bespectacled man in front of him picked up his pace into a soft run though, he sped up as well. "Don't slow down now Fred," the man called out, "If you do, the traps will get you and you'll die. Again."

Fred didn't want to risk dying again, even if he was stuck in a strange dream, and made sure to keep the pace. He copied everything the raven haired man did, and smiled to himself when they both came to a halt.

The Harry lookalike turned to look at him, grinning. "You're pretty good getting this far your first try. I'm proud. Anyway, dude, it's nice to meet you."

He struck a hand out for Fred to shake. "My name's James. James Potter. Around here though, most people call me Prongs."

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_To be continued..._


	2. Chapter One

Title: Study in Death

Notes: Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter everyone! I love each and every one of you guys, and I hope you like this chapter. Also, a quick thing, if there are any American words in this, it's because a lot of American culture has filtered into England over the years so I'm just used to them. Anyway, hope you like the chapter, don't hesitate to leave a review, or follow the story!

Ciao, Mint~

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_**Chapter One**_

"For God's sake James, can't you for once in your existence show a little bit of sympathy?"

Fred had noticed very quickly that people spoke more about existence than life. It made sense to him though, they were all dead, not alive. They merely existed. It was a horrifying feeling that Fred had to try and push away and not muse upon.

Currently, James was being yelled at by a fiery red-headed woman, who kept hitting him in the shoulder as screamed at him. Her arms were crossed, and for a moment she reminded Fred of his younger sister Ginny.

The others in the room were acting as if what was happening was simply an everyday occurrence. As the two argued, it seemed very likely that this was the answer.

The inside of Dumbledore's – well, the principal's – office had changed an awful lot since Fred had last been there. Instead of being an office, it had been successfully converted into a lounge area, where people were talking and pacing to and fro.

"Of course I do Lils! But what exactly do you say that's sympathetic when telling someone they're dead?!" James argued back, "what do you expect me to say? _Sorry you're dead but if it helps, I am to?"_

Fred pinched the rims of his nose – This was all very stressful. Without George around to crack a joke, he wasn't sure he could find any light in the situation. Who would have thought that death was so… confusing?

George… Fred hoped that George wasn't around. If what he'd been told was true – that he was in the afterlife – then Fred hoped that he wouldn't see his twin for a long time.

"This is why you need some empathy! Things will be calmer that way and you don't have to leave people in shock about their death!"

The ginger winced at the word 'death'. From behind him, a blonde woman sat down beside him. She held a cup out to him.

"It's lemon tea. It'll help calm you down."

Fred took the cup from the blonde, nodding slightly as a way of saying thank you. Taking a small sip out of it, he tried not to grimace. The tea was sickeningly sweet, and it seemed to burn his throat slightly.

"Ugh- I..." Fred stared at the tea in slightly disbelief. Tea couldn't possibly taste that bad – it wasn't that hard to make. The blonde woman was watching him when he looked back up at her, and he smiled weakly, "tastes… good."

The blonde laughed gently, looking down at the cup. She smiled slightly. "I'm sorry, I forgot to say, it'll take a while for things to taste the same as they used to."

It was odd, thinking that tastes were different than what he'd always known. Then his expression changed to one of slight horror.

"Does that mean that all tea will taste strange?"

Another laugh. Fred felt a bit more comfortable knowing that there were still a lot of people who were happy despite being stuck in the afterlife.

"No." The woman said, kindly. "Not necessarily, just a bit stronger than it normally is. Maybe I shouldn't have put any sugars in?"

Fred smiled, before introducing himself, like he'd been taught to by his mother. It was strange not to hear George introducing himself straight afterwards. The woman smiled slightly, although now she seemed slightly sad.

"I'm Dorcas Meadows."

Fred went to say something else when a loud banging noise and a yell sounded from outside the room. The red headed woman that James had been arguing with – the Weasley twin had recognised her as Harry's mother, Lily – turned upon hearing the sound.

James turned as well, though he looked mostly like he was going to laugh. "Oh god, he hasn't gone and fallen victim to those traps again did he?" he said. Running a hand through his hair, James paced over to the entrance.

Fred went to follow after him, mostly out of curiosity, but Dorcas put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. "I don't think that you want to see that… the traps out there… They tend to be a bit… bloody…"

Fred settled back down on his seat, taking another sip of his tea. He grimaced this time.

While James had gone to check on whoever had been… fallen victim to traps, Lily had decided to focus on Fred and sat down opposite him. He noticed that she wasn't wearing shoes. Slightly confused, he passed it off as a quirk.

"How are you holding up?" Lily said, smiling reassuringly at him. Fred hoped that he looked okay, because other than the slight shocked and an overwhelming feeling of confusion, he felt fine.

He nodded, as if confirming his own thoughts, before realising that Lily wasn't reading his mind. "Uh, I'm fine. Really," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "A bit shocked, but otherwise, pretty good."

Lily sighed. However, she let the subject go, with a quick reassurance that the Weasley twin could talk to her if he needed to. 'It's the least I can do. We're all a family here, in our own way.' She added, before standing up and leaving Fred to his own devices.

The ginger hadn't noticed Dorcas leave, but he imagined that it was because of the victim outside that she had left. Or maybe she'd gone to stand guard, like James had been when they'd first met.

Fred continued to sip on the tea every few minutes – it had been enchanted to stay warm – as he watched everyone around him. It was strange to see people that he had once seen in photographs with the description '_rest in peace' _under their name.

"I still can't believe that you fell for it again!"

Fred turned to look back at the entrance, waiting for James to come back in the room. He did. The raven haired man walked through the doors, looking backwards as he wiped his glasses on his shirt.

"You can't really blame me prongs…" a familiar voice responded. Fred's eyes widened – it couldn't be. "Those traps are bloody hard to get past."

The Weasley twin waited in suspense waiting to see the face to the voice. Then, soon, a shaggy haired man walked into the room. He'd looked younger than the last time Fred had seen him, less haunted. But Fred recognised him anyway.

Sirius Black wasn't someone you could easily forget.

The last time Fred had seen the man he'd been miserable. The animagus had always seemed keen to talk with the twins whenever they were talking about their joke shop though and the ginger had always appreciated Sirius' enthusiasm.

"Yeah," James agreed, walking up a few steps. "I have to admit, it takes a while until you know exactly where they are."

Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it. Having focused on James when he'd been speaking, he hadn't noticed Sirius staring at him. Turning back to Sirius however, he was greeted with a horrified expression.

"F-f-Fred?" Sirius spluttered, rushing up to him with a slightly broken expression. Fred hadn't even turned twenty one yet, and it obviously hurt him to know that he'd never see that day.

"Hey Sirius," Fred said, trying to shrug of his presence in the afterlife. "What kind of traps caught you off guard?"

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter Two

Title: _A Study in Death_

Notes: Okay, so next chapter! Thanks for all of the support you guys, I'm thankful for the reviews and the favs/follows! I was uncertain at first whether this would be deemed good, but I'm liking where it's going. I hope you guys like it to! Anyway, enjoy the chapter please and don't hesitate to leave your reactions to the chapter, reviews are nice to read through!

Ciao, Mint~

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Sirius Black had experienced a lot of things in his life – Fred knew because when the man had been alive, he'd told him about some of the adventures that he'd been on. Fred could easily recall stories of flying motor bikes and death eater attacks that had been stopped before anyone could get seriously hurt.

So yes – Fred knew that Sirius Black had experienced a lot of things in his thirty-six years. And the pain that he'd been able to see in Sirius' eyes when he'd occupied Grimauld Place proved that many of his experiences hadn't been very pleasant.

_So why_, Fred thought, _is Sirius finding it so hard to formulate any words to speak with me?_

Sirius' eyes were filled with a deep grief that hadn't been there before. Fred had noticed that much, the animagus was obviously dreading the realisation that another person that he knew was dead.

On the inside, the ginger smiled bitterly, why was Sirius sadder than him? Why did Fred feel nothing when he thought about his own death? Why didn't he care?

Sirius' grey eyes met Fred's and finally, it seemed as if the man could formulate words. He said, "You're not supposed to be here, not yet, not ever."

Fred had to bite his tongue slightly. He was slightly happy though – because wasn't it great that he was able to talk with the person who he'd considered his mentor during his seventh year?

"But I am," Fred said, allowing the words to roll off of his tongue as if they held no weight to them at all. Despite the situation, he found himself smiling. "But you – Sirius – why did you never tell me you were _the _Padfoot, one of the marauders!"

Sirius didn't smile at Fred's attempt to change the subject to a nicer one. Instead, he crossed his arms, staring slightly defiantly at the ginger. "You're going into that now? Really?"

Despite his appearance being that of a young man, Sirius still possessed the mentality of an adult who had fought in two wars. For a moment, Fred swore that he could see a hint of grief in the animagus' eyes.

"You got me and George through our Hogwarts years you know!" Fred said, continuing as if he'd never stopped speaking. "The marauders map – genius! And you guys obviously did so much more but we never got to hear any tales about your own pra–"

"_**Stop."**_

Fred reared backwards slightly, shock present on his face. Putting one of his hands in his pocket, and fiddling with the fabric, he waited for the inevitable. After all, in all the time he'd known him, the ginger had never once heard Sirius raise his voice.

"Just stop right now, Fred." Sirius said, hissing. His eyes were narrowed, and anger sparked in them but they were also filled with other emotions as well – panic, sadness and guilt. Why, Fred wondered, was the man guilty?

"You don't…" Sirius seemed to be struggling for the right words. "Just stop alright? We aren't at some reunion or something. Fred Weasley, _you are dead _and acting like you're okay with that is just lying to yourself. You are allowed to be sad, okay? So stop acting as if you're so happy to be here."

Fred faltered for a moment. He didn't feel sad – George was safe. His parents were safe. His siblings and friends were all safe, weren't they? If everyone else had survived then he didn't have anything to be so sad about.

From besides Sirius, James shifted from one foot to another. Even though he'd fallen in love with a woman who he constantly argued with, and had been part of the Order of the Phoenix, he seemed to be uncomfortable with conflict. Placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder, he mumbled something under his breath to his friend that Fred couldn't hear.

Lily seemed to diffuse the tension within a second, as she and two other people whose names Fred couldn't remember made their way down the steps. She looked at her husband and Sirius with a frown, as if she wanted to lecture them on what they'd just said.

"Don't cause problems while I'm out on my patrol, understood you two?" She said, pulling her red hair up into a ponytail. The two men seemed to turn their attention from Fred to Lily within milliseconds.

"You're going to go fight our defence again?" James said, running a hand through his hair. He seemed to do that a lot. It reminded Fred very much of Harry – what was he doing at that point he wondered. Had they won? And more urgently, what did James mean by fighting their defence?

"Yes, of course I am." Lily said. She rolled her eyes, before leaning forwards and giving James a quick peck on the lips. She didn't breach the subject anymore, and after a weak smile at her husband, Lily made her way to the exit.

"Don't die," James called after her, grinning slightly. Fred wondered if he was referring to the traps that he'd talked about before.

Without turning back, Lily called out, "Fuck off James," before leaving the confines of the headmasters office.

Sirius turned back to Fred, but after a few seconds of opening his mouth and closing is again, he let out a sigh. Fred watched him carefully, waiting for any signs that the man might say anything. In the end, Sirius simply shook his head, turning away from Fred.

x

Although the reunion with Sirius hadn't gone quite as well as Fred would have liked, he had much more urgent matters that he had to attend to. For example – the ginger wanted to learn more about what exactly Lily Evans had gone off to defend.

No one seemed to have any spare time to speak with him, which didn't help his research. The only people, who weren't doing anything deemed 'important' in Fred's eyes, were James and Sirius, and he couldn't ask them for help just yet.

Or rather, he was much too stubborn to ask them for help. Not after he'd been lectured by Sirius and treated like a child.

If only he could find Dorcas, he realised with a sigh escaping his lips. She'd seemed kind earlier, and maybe she would be able to explain some things. However, it seemed as if she had gone out to fight their defence as well – because no matter how hard Fred looked, he couldn't find her.

And Fred knew the ins and outs of the headmaster's office _very_ well.

Closing his eyes, Fred took a moment to think. Ever since he'd woken up, he hadn't taken a moment to think rationally and properly, and his ideas seemed to be suffering as a result. Once his thoughts were more ordered, Fred opened his eyes.

James had been fighting the defence when he'd found Fred. They'd been on the outside of the school, not that far in… So had he come from outside of the school? It would make sense really – before he'd died he'd been defending the school. Were they doing the same in the afterlife?

Fred didn't know, but decided that it was a good enough idea to start with. Rocking on his feet for a bit longer, the ginger decided that simply looking out one of the windows could give him an indication as to what he was up against.

There were only two windows in the office. One was high up, and thus, hard to get to. The other window seemed to be the best bet to help Fred understand what exactly was going on. He had to climb up a few steps in order to get to the window, but once he was there, he started searching for anything that might solve the puzzle in his head.

He was after all an inventor – he hated leaving things unsolved.

The scenery outside of the window was exactly like he remembered. Fred could see the courtyard and the forbidden forest in the distance. Some grass as well that needed trimming, but that'd be done soon with magic…

If he looked closer though, he could see other things. Not moving things, there were no creatures outside waiting to spring on him, rather… destructing.

Looking closer, Fred could make out rubble in the courtyard, plaster and bricks left abandoned everywhere. The grass had scorch marks, almost as if magic spells had been avoided and left to attack the grass.

Fred was about to look even more deeply – maybe he'd be able to make out more if he just looked further – but hands on either of his arms turned him around with such force that Fred felt slightly light headed.

Sirius and James stood in front of them. Lily stood behind them, a worried expression on her face.

"You got back quickly." It wasn't a question, rather it was a statement. After all, Fred had watched Lily leave only a few minutes ago.

Lily shook her head, biting down on her lip. "No I didn't. I left for defence four hours ago."


End file.
